Uninsurance Disparities Have Narrowed For Black And Hispanic Adults Under The Affordable Care Act

Abstract

Black and Hispanic adults have long experienced higher uninsurance rates than white adults. Under the Affordable Care Act, differences in uninsurance rates have narrowed for both black and Hispanic adults compared to their white counterparts, but Hispanics continue to face large gaps in coverage.

In Low-Income Latino Patients, Post-Affordable Care Act Insurance Disparities May Be Reduced Even More than Broader National Estimates: Evidence from Oregon

“…This is consistent with national findings regarding the decreasing rates of Americans without health insurance [26, 27], results from studies showing health insurance gains among CHC patients [28], and reports of Oregon being a state with the significant gains in Medicaid coverage [18, 28]. …”

Health Benefits and Cost-Effectiveness of Asymptomatic Screening for Hypertension and High Cholesterol and Aspirin Counseling for Primary Prevention

“…Still, almost one-half of those with a diagnosis of hypertension do not meet recommended blood pressure goals, 122 and our sensitivity analysis, along with the findings of others, 84 indicates that major reductions in disease and cost burdens can be realized with improvements in treatment effectiveness. Our findings also highlight opportunities for closing gaps among populations for which persistent care access and quality disparities have hindered uptake of effective preventive services [123][124][125][126][127] and advance the case toward a personalized approach to quantitative priority setting. 128 Overall, our findings affirm that aspirin counseling for primary prevention and asymptomatic screening and treatment of hypertension and lipid disorders should remain among the top prevention priorities for adults in primary care.…”

The Effect of the 2014 Medicaid Expansion on Insurance Coverage for Newly Eligible Childless Adults

“…Across all states and income groups, young adults experienced larger reductions in uninsurance between 2013 and 2014 than did older adults, and larger gains in insurance coverage have also been documented for Black and Hispanic adults relative to white adults (Buchmueller et al, 2016;Courtemanche, Marton, and Yelowitz, 2016;McMorrow et al, 2015a;McMorrow et al, 2015b).…”

“…Existing reports of demographic patterns in insurance coverage between 2013 and 2014 either do not distinguish between expansion and nonexpansion states (Courtemanche, Marton, and Yelowitz, 2016; or do not stratify on income and pre-ACA eligibility in a way that allows conclusions to be drawn about take-up among the newly eligible (Cohen and Martinez, 2015b;McMorrow et al, 2015a;McMorrow et al, 2015b). This is true even of the estimates reported by Buchmueller et al (2016), which captured changes in the uninsurance rate by race and ethnicity specifically for adults with family income below 138 percent of the FPL.…”